When they dropped interest rates a couple of weeks back was your first thought: (A) Money is cheap, I might go get a mortgage or add to my existing mortgage? OR (B) This is an opportunity to pay down debt and reduce or clear my mortgage? My first thought was definitely B.

Those of you who have read my blog for a long time have been on a journey with me as I teach my daughter, now 11 years old, about how money works. Like every parent, I’m just making it up as I go along and I’m slowly working on her education around how money and life interact. So far, I’m pleased with how things are going and the time has come for her very first bank account.

Borrowing money to buy shares is something that I don’t hear about that often and I have only really come across a small handful of examples of it in the last couple of years of blogging. Whereas we borrow vast sums of money all day long to get into the housing market, without the word ‘risk’ ever really being used, when we borrow money to buy into securities our first instincts are concern and fear.

Each week I receive great emails from YOU where you ask me all sorts of questions regarding life and money. Tim got in touch asking about how to go about changing banks and he had the following questions…

At age 44 it feels like a bit of a milestone, to finally turn my back on ANY access to credit and lending of any kind. I seriously feel a bit like a grown up now and I’m kicking another Australian owned bank to the curb and chopping up my credit card.

Because I threw off the shackles of debt some time ago I have become a little out of touch with mortgages. I’ve had enough emails about “Offset Mortgages” to make me think that this is something I need to look into because there are obviously a few of you out there who either use this system of banking or want to know what it is all about. This blog post may ruffle a few feathers...

Olivia spent the school holidays working hard and she has found herself with that wonderful problem, too much cash sitting in the bank. In this blog post, I detail a strategy to show her how to make her hard earned money work for her and create a strong financial future for herself.

The slow moving trainwreck that is the NZ housing market continues on unabated. Those wanting a first home can’t buy one because those owning many homes keep buying them to rent them out to those wanting to buy a first home but can’t afford them…

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